sexual conflict

Sexual conflict or sexual antagonism occurs when the two sexes have conflicting optimal fitness strategies concerning reproduction, particularly over the mode and frequency of mating, potentially leading to an evolutionary arms race between males and females. For instance, males may benefit from multiple matings, while multiple matings may harm or endanger females. The development of an evolutionary arms race can also be seen in the chase-away sexual selection model, which places inter-sexual conflicts in the context of secondary sexual characteristic evolution, sensory exploitation, and female resistance. According to chase-away selection, continuous sexual conflict creates an environment in which mating frequency and male secondary sexual trait development are somewhat in step with the female’s degree of resistance. It has primarily been studied in animals, though it can in principle apply to any sexually reproducing organism, such as plants and fungi.